Molds used to form plastic parts such as electrical connector housings and other articles are generally formed by machining a pair of mold plates resulting in a negative image of the surfaces to be molded. Electrical connector sockets frequently have flat surfaces populated with large numbers of apertures for receiving electrical contacts. Molds for such parts may have several thousand openings formed in the mold parts to receive core pins around which plastic may be formed. The core pins result in recesses or openings formed in the article to be molded. The mold plates are then placed and secured into opposed mold holders or frames. The pair of mold holders are held together and molten material is injected therebetween to form the molded article. The mold holders are then separated to eject the molded article from the mold. Forming of the mold plates is typically a labor intensive process since a negative image of the article to be molded and a large number of core pins must be precisely machined into the surface of the plate.
A problem exists with the present method of making molds in that forming of the mold plate and the multitude of core pins is a labor intensive precision machining process. It is therefore desirable to simplify the process of creating a mold in a precise manner without the need for a labor intensive process and without the individual core pins.